I had planned to get to the Wirral Food and Drink Festival early this year, but nevermind, at 12 we joined the queue for car parking (free) at Claremont Farm, Bebington, and in no time bagged a parking spot next to the entrance.

Inside (£1 entry fee), there were more queues, this time for the brilliant hot lunches on offer. The queue for Manna Foods organic hog roast and £1 pottle of crackling was dominating, which was good for us, as in my opinion the best lunch on offer was Sheldrake's lamb kofta pita with minted-yoghurt dressing and fresh tomato, lettuce and red onion. Perfect and easy to eat too, which was lucky as there were no seats left!

Lunch done, we ventured off to see the stalls but by this stage the crowds were out and TV's Jimmy's farm had sold out of sausages. You really do need to get there early to get a good look at all the produce.

We saw some great cooking demonstrations and stopped in at some favourite stalls like More! the artisan bakery for a Tiffin or the Cheshire Farm Icecream truck! With over 100 producers and stalls there was a lot to take in - afterwards it was only a quick drive away to the Wheatsheaf in Raby to enjoy the rest of the sunshine before the rain set in.

Well done to the organisers! This year was even better than last year, including Merseytravel shuttles from Spital station and the sheer number of volunteers helping out - the festival is a great asset to Wirral - shame we can't have a Christmas version too! That said, if you missed out or want to relive the festival vibe you can visit the Wirral Farmers Market on the 2nd Saturday of each month from 9am in New Ferry, or any day of the week you can visit Claremont Farm. Next on the festival circuit - the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival starts 13 September!